Wake Up Call
by Songbird of the End
Summary: Majora's Mask. Oneshot. Two were warriors and one had witnessed it, so they perfectly understood the need for urgency. Mikau, however, never needed violence or haste. It's time for a lesson.


If you have problems with schizophrenia, I suggest you leave before you read any farther. That said, I have no idea where Tatl went. All I know is that she was in the way. Good news for 'Split fans, an update is in your future...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Zelda franchise. Cry me a river.

* * *

It was peaceful, in that calm before the storm kind of way. A monstrous moon hung suspended above a faraway town whose rooftops were visible over the treetops. Most of the townspeople had fled by sundown about ten hours ago. Now, only two figures were watching the moon slowly descend to the earth.

The first was the stubborn head carpenter, daring the moon to fall from his spot in the town square. The other seemed to be a Zora, watching unconcernedly from a lone roof from much farther away.

It didn't quite look like an ordinary Zora, since most of them don't bother with clothes. He (it was quite easy to tell the difference between male Zoras and female Zoras) was wearing studded leather gloves and boots, an odd green kilt, and a leather choker with inlaid mother of pearl. His most peculiar attribute, however, was that his color scheme was leaning more towards green-and-white from the Zoras' usual blue-and-white, and this was reflected when his head fin turned a forest green close to his head.

He was idly sitting near the peak of the red roof with a large, fish-skeleton guitar sitting in his lap. He appeared to be tuning it, plucking one string and listening closely to the sound it made before tightening or loosening the string. With a heavy sigh, he leaned back against the roof and folded his arms behind his head, abandoning his guiatar to stare up into the reddish sky instead.

"Hey, guys," the Zora spoke aloud to his nonexistent companions. "Why are we doing this again?"

A moment of silence passed before his reply was heard by the only living creature that could. _"We told you: because you don't seem to get it."_

"What is there to get?" He asked angrily. For some reason, two of the other three had been mad at him ever since he had tried to take advantage of the fact he once again had a body and his girlfriend did, too. Two shouting voices had sufficiently broken the mood and left him having to make up some excuse to leave. Honestly, where had the harm been in getting reacquainted with your girlfriend?

His answer was an exasperated sigh and a low rumbling, _"Need we remind you we're on a _time limit_?"_

The Zora made an irritated gurgling sound. Yes, he knew about the time limit, but it doesn't seem to matter when you can _rewind time itself_ and relive those three days as many times as you need to. The oldest member of the quartet must have heard this because he sighed and returned to silence.

The Zora, admittedly bored out of his mind, looked around at his surroundings and shivered. Romani's Ranch, usually bright and cheerful, looked downright menacing with the red glow the moon was giving off. The silence was absolute; neither birds nor crickets dared to cry out tonight, leaving the world in an unnatural hush. It seemed like every aspect of nature could tell the world was ending at daybreak.

"_FIRE!!"_

The Zora jumped (instinctively placing a steadying hand on his instrument) and glanced around, searching for both where the call had come from and where the fire was. After seeing no plumes of smoke or feeling any rise in temperature of the building he sat on, he finally recognized the high, nasally voice. The fourth and least spoken member had decided to make himself known.

"_Fire! What's wrong with you all? Can't you see it!?"_

"_Please, calm down. There is no fire."_

"_The flames! The flames are horrible, can't you see them!? Fire, fire!!"_

As a bongo set beat out a familiar tune and the host's voice murmured soft words of comfort until the cries quieted, the Zora found himself wondering what the Skull Kid had put the Deku Scrub through and decided he really didn't want to know. Fire was the mutual enemy of Zoras and Deku Scrubs, but the latter had it far worse, seeing as how they were practically animated bundles of kindling.

(He idly wondered why, then, did they have a large **fire pit** in the royal palace itself? Sure, it probably had something to do with the torture they were probably currently putting the monkey through, dipping him in a pot of who-knows-what, but _still_.)

"_Poor kid,"_ a familiar human voice was saying once the cries completely stopped, _"having to go through so much at that troublemaker's hands."_

"It's very ironic hearing that from you, considering what you're doing." The Zora smirked, glad to have finally one-upped the Hylian. He wasn't too happy about about being third in command in the last body he'd be in before death finally claimed him (what do you know, green actually _was_ his lucky color that week), and he'd taken to gaining small victories over the boy. Anything counted.

What felt like a weary glare was settled on him. _"You know I hardly count as a child anymore."_

The aquatic one frowned, having to admit he was right. He had heard the disparity between his mind voice and his actual voice he used when speaking to the outside world. The vocal one sounded a lot younger, whereas the mind one almost sounded like an adult. He had only half explained it to the guitar player of it being the result of even more time travel, and the Zora hadn't felt like pressing for details, sure he wouldn't like them one bit. After all, the Hylian's usual form only looked to be about ten.

The Zora glanced over towards Clock Town again, frowning as he noted both how close the moon was and how light the sky to the east was becoming. "Hey, shouldn't we be playing the Song of Time soon?"

No answer.

"Link?"

"_It's almost time. Just a few more minutes."_ His voice had taken on a surprisingly cold tone, one the Zora had rarely heard him use. _"Brace yourself, Darmani. You haven't seen this either."_

"What do you mean?! Brace yourself for what?" The Zora had always hated being out of the loop, and it was slightly disturbing realizing the loop consisted of the _voices in his head_.

"_Look at Clock Town, Mikau."_ Despite the voice being quieter than usual, the Zora still obeyed, and what he saw made him jump to his feet and go slack jawed in shock.

It seemed the atmosphere had finally taken notice of the large satellite approaching the surface and started to futilely stop the moon from approaching, causing it to become engulfed in flames. The clock tower in Clock Town had been reduced to little more than burning shrapnel whirling upwards from the sheer force of the collision. As the Zora watched, the rest of the town was torn to shreds and had those shreds along with whatever was left burn as the moon impacted the ground. A fiery wave spread from the original flaming aura of the moon across the land, decimating plant life and monsters alike and hiding any charred remains behind its almost white glow.

Mikau stood rooted, horrified by what he had seen, as the wave approached Romani Ranch. Time seemed to slow, and over the rising din of the flames he could hear the terrified screams of the house's occupants and a horse's frightened whinnies. All of it seemed to fade to white noise, however, as the Zora found himself staring down one of the primordial forces of nature as the burning tsunami raged closer, so close that he could feel the heat on his maladapted skin and the white hot flames reflected in his eyes were all he could see.

And then, darkness.

Cold darkness, that sounded of running water, clanking gears, and an unearthly melody.

He collapsed as the magic around him faded to the regular level. His guitar's strings were still vibrating, signaling that someone (probably Link) had retained enough coherent thought to siege control and play the Song of Time right before the wave hit, saving all of them from a fiery doom.

Right now, though, the Zora was trying to gather his wits and try to get his heart to stop racing. The stone felt blessedly cool, and he winced as he carefully pressed his fingers to his shoulder. It felt like the flames had managed to scorch him in some places, causing the scales to turn brown (impossible to tell in the sudden blackness of beneath the clock tower) and shrivel up. Other places felt unusually warm, meaning they had probably turned pink in the Zora equivalent of a sunburn.

Once his breathing returned to a nearly normal level, the Zora managed to prop himself up on his elbows and knees. His mind was still reeling from the scene of effortless destruction he witnessed earlier (later? It was always hard to tell with time travel.), and judging by the silence the others were too.

After a few more minutes, the Hylian's voice pierced through the mental silence.

"_Now do you understand?"_ He asked, and if his face could be seen along with his voice it would probably be frighteningly blank. _"Every minute, every second we waste brings the world closer to _that_. Every time we rewind the clock, we're actually abandoning that timeline to its doom and starting another one that we have the ability to save. The timeline we abandon, no matter which day we do, will complete its three-day cycle before it ceases to exist."_

The Zora focused on the grinding of the gears, convincing himself he wasn't about to die and the extra adrenalin wasn't needed. He lifted his head to stare off into the darkness as he stuttered his only argument. "How… how do you know all this, anyway? How can you be so sure?"

The feeling of a mirthless smile drifted across his awareness, and his mind involuntarily imagined it, the black background making it stand out better than ever. _"It's time travel, something I have more experience in than I'd like to admit."_

The Zora recalled his earlier thoughts regarding the Hylian's voices and found himself still slightly skeptical. The blond sighed before allowing a select few of his memories slip for the Zora to see.

Seven years. A joyful town square compared to the same one overrun by ReDeads. A quaint village compared to a burning one. A tall, majestic white castle compared to a forbidding, dark one surrounded by lava. Zoras frozen underwater. Gorons shivering with fright behind bars, begging not to be eaten. A childhood home crawling with monsters. A boy forced into the body of a man, and a man sealed in the shape of a boy. Friends forgetting who you are. The sheer loneliness as a ball of blue light flies away. A girl in white smiling sadly before turning away. Laughing women with flame red hair. Puzzled green eyes and dancing violet ones.

The worst part was, the darkened walls made each image vivid and easily defined. Mikau could no longer doubt the Hylian had experience with time travel. As the Zora shakily got to his feet, he wondered just how stable the boy had managed to stay. After seeing only glimpses of his life and the Seven Years War's tragedy, there was no way he'd be able to walk out with his psyche unscathed. Then, add to the fact that his comrades could no longer remember the events of the future… No one should have to have that happen to them. The Hylian seemed surprised at the Zora's silent question before affirming it.

Link no longer fought to protect his friends or for some altruistic reason. He fought to make sure he didn't have to witness the world going to hell again.

Despite his body's protests, the aquatic one stumbled towards the door. He pushed the door open without hesitation and didn't flinch when the light stabbed his sensitive eyes, perfectly suited to swimming in dark places. He walked out into the busy Clock Town square and finally put his guitar away, feeling it mold itself back into the form of an ocarina. Striding through the square and dodging a dog that seemed to take a liking to him, he murmured quietly to the companions only he could hear.

"Which way are we headed?"

The swordsman smiled happily, knowing that the guitarist finally understood. _"We're going west, to Ikana Valley. Vacant of life, teeming with the afterlife."_

The Zora's lips twisted sardonically before he replied. "I guess we'll feel right at home, then."


End file.
